Publication: Health and Poverty in Guatemala
Date
2003-01
ISSN
Published
2003-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Unlike many other countries in Latin
America, Guatemala is only at the beginning of the
demographic, and epidemiological transition. The population
is young, is growing rapidly, and is still primarily rural.
Guatemala is among the worst performers in terms of health
outcomes in Latin America, with one of the highest infant
mortality rates, and one of the lowest life expectancies at
birth. Major causes of death in Guatemala still include
treatable, and communicable diseases, such as diarrhea,
pneumonia, cholera, malnutrition, and tuberculosis. A
significant share of Guatemalans lack access to health care
services. A combination of both supply- and demand-side
constraints limit the ability of households to seek health
care services in Guatemala, with supply-side constraints
playing a more dominant role in rural areas than urban. Some
progress has been made in reforming the health sector.
Important steps have been taken on the institutional side,
with health being one of the pilot ministries to
decentralize financial management under the Integrated
System for Health Care (SIAS program). Public spending has
shifted toward preventive care, which is essential for
treating the health problems faced by the poor. Despite
these efforts, spending and health outcomes has not improved
significantly. In addition, public spending on health is not
well targeted. Overall, public health spending benefits the
highest quintiles disproportionately, By type of facility,
public spending on hospitals is by far the more regressive.
Citation
“Gragnolati, Michele; Marini, Alessandra. 2003. Health and Poverty in Guatemala. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2966. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19187 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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